My Adventures Archives » Page 7 of 53 » Adventures of Empty Nesters

Can’t Travel Today? 8 Ways to Help You Dream Now & Play Later

March 18, 2020

Got travel challenges?

Are you wondering what to do now that we can’t travel freely? I know we all have to do our part and therefore, armchair travel is best for now.

Traveling is my passion, my career, and what lights me up. I am always thrilled to hear about your latest trip and the vacations of others. I can live vicariously or better yet; I can find adventure too. Since we are not currently traveling, and many of us have chosen to cancel or postpone travel arrangements, maybe now is the time to dream about your next trip?

Life is busy and we don’t always take time to enjoy the process of the hunt! To create the perfect trip or vacation, a carefully researched itinerary is the best way to go! Now is the time to get down into the teeny tiny details!

The Tastiest Dishes & Most Delicious Cocktails of 2019

March 9, 2020

tastiest drinks — A celebratory Piña Colada on a sunny afternoon in Maui

Tasty Dishes & Enticing Cocktails

I began my search for the tastiest dishes of the year by sifting through my photos starting in January. However, by the time I reached the month of June, I had already chosen 30 different tantalizing feasts for the eyes! How to choose?

Be honest, do you want to see that many of my “highlights”? I don’t believe so. Therefore, I carefully looked for colorful, unique meals and surprisingly incredible drinks that are worth celebrating once again. A few of them are favorites due to their unique nature or element of surprise!

I have narrowed down this list to a more manageable number and I hope you enjoy revisiting them as much as I do!

Give Yourself A Delightful New Book Called Don’t Overthink It

March 4, 2020March 4, 2020

Check out this thought-provoking new book called Don’t Overthink It

Are you looking for illuminating practical suggestions to take your everyday life to a new level? Does facing annoying personal habits sound daunting? This book will help smooth out the wrinkles in your decision strategies and most certainly put a smile on your face.

Reading is a huge passion of mine and almost borders on obsession. I can never be reading a book without several more in line for my next read. My TBR (to be read) list is long, and I often read two (sometimes three) books at once. To be clear, one could be a novel, another personal development, and a third is likely a memoir about a chef. It depends upon my mood and the amount of time I have to read at the moment.

Come With Us On A Relaxing Winter Weekend Getaway to Phoenix

February 24, 2020February 21, 2020

An Empty Nester Getaway to Phoenix

Looking for sweet relief from the struggles of winter? A quick getaway to Phoenix, Arizona might be just what the doctor ordered. Are you contemplating a seasonal escape, sick of cold temps and wet Sundays? Do dreams of a round of golf on a pristine course surrounded by happy cacti, as far as you can see, sound amazing?

You get the idea. This post is the second in a series of collaborations with my friends at Hotels.com. It is fun to re-focus on destinations that may or may not get a lot of love from travel experts. I am thrilled to offer you a spark of an idea, an inspiration or a reminder of a city you haven’t visited in a while. A trip to Arizona is on our schedule for next month! More on that in a minute.

More Downsizing, Too Many Photos, More Lessons Learned

February 3, 2020

Empty Nester Downsizing: Are you doing this?

The downsizing continues… More sifting, sorting, tossing and saving. Are you doing this? Lately, I seem to read a lot about how people are downsizing, buying smaller homes and some of them have adapted to a nomadic lifestyle. They just travel and don’t even have a permanent home any longer.

Our children now are grown, we looked around and noticed… we have lots of stuff. I’ve written in the past about how we had a much bigger home and downsized to a smaller home which we completely renovated. The entire experience was a gratifying and exciting adventure. However, what we came to understand was that we collected too many personal possessions! Sound familiar?

A Romantic Weekend For Two – Is it time to make a plan?

February 21, 2020January 29, 2020

A Romantic Weekend

Is a romantic weekend for two on your travel list for this year? If it isn’t, you may want to think a little harder, be a little more creative for your sweetheart. Don’t have a significant other? Grab a friend or a grown child and go, because everyone deserves a bit of me time.

Super Bowl Bound? Here are several fun things to do in Miami Beach!

January 20, 2020

Fun things to do in Miami Beach

My friends at Hotels.com asked me to share a few fun things to do in Miami Beach! The whole world will be watching the vibrant city of Miami, Florida on Sunday February 2, 2020, because Super Bowl LIV will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Families, empty nesters, couples and friend groups will travel away from the winter blues and down to where the sun shines virtually every day. Travel to Miami is red hot right now.

What a fantastic year! My Top Travel Highlights of 2019

February 21, 2020January 13, 2020

travel highlights — Our spectacular view from the Hyatt Residence Club, Kaanapali, Maui.

Hello friends & Happy New Year – I hope that you were able to hang out with family and friends, devour some delicious meals and maybe even find a little adventure! We enjoyed all of these things too!

travel highlights in Wyoming — Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming – Absolutely breathtaking!

It has been a fabulous year of travel!

Wow, to narrow down my top travel highlights of the year was truly a challenge. 2019 was one heck of a travel adventure full of eclectic destinations, firsts and second time visits, discovery and nature so big it takes your breath away. Literally.

January began with a relaxing but rainy week in Maui and then the travel wheels got moving very quickly! No time for resting, extraordinary destinations were waiting for us to arrive.

I know that you are super busy and you cannot always make time to read every single one of my posts… so here are some of the top travel highlights and links to their respective posts. I once again want to thank you for being here and for reading and commenting on my adventures. I truly appreciate you.

My goal is to provide you with helpful, interesting info that you couldn’t find anywhere else!

Love & Gratitude at Christmas in The Empty Nest

February 21, 2020December 19, 2019

Christmas in the Empty Nest

Christmas in the Empty Nest seems to be a little different each year as we move forward. Did you know that many empty nesters are Googling and researching “How to be happy in The Empty Nest at Christmas?” Yep, many may be new at this Empty Nest adventure and it might not feel very good right now.

In the past when the children were young, every Christmas holiday was pretty similar to the next. We embraced the family traditions that we started when they were little and my husband Craig and I divided and conquered as we raced around trying to find everything on their lists. We made the same traditional cookies, attended the same Holiday Programs at school and found the perfect present for gift exchanges.

Attention Bourbon Lovers :: A Fantasy Trip to the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky

May 4, 2020October 29, 2019

trip to Bourbon Trail — Humorous sign at Mammy’s in Bardstown, KY

An Epic Trip to the Bourbon Trail

A trip to the Bourbon Trail… is this on your list too? Ever since our grown kids came home from college loving this delicious brown spirit, I have been paying attention. Truthfully, at the time of their discovery, I was still favoring the ubiquitous Cosmo. I then moved on from the Cosmopolitan to a vodka martini which was made up of “Chopin, up, two olives and a twist.”

However, in the last year, my favorite adult beverage is now a Manhattan or Old Fashioned, because I love the aroma and smooth flavor of a good quality bourbon.

This leads me to the story of our most recent vacation, an adventurous trip to the Bourbon Trail. We began our tour in Louisville, Kentucky, traveled over to Lexington, KY and then finished our trip in Nashville, Tennessee. Not surprisingly, it was one of our favorite trips in years!